


Here Goes Nothing

by ehbwenje



Category: Aphmau-MyStreet
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, He has two lip rings tho, Love, M/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The power of friendship, Zane doesn't wear a mask, kc likes red wine, she also likes sitting on fire escape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-14
Updated: 2018-07-15
Packaged: 2019-05-06 01:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14631204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ehbwenje/pseuds/ehbwenje
Summary: She plopped herself onto the bus seat with a resounding huff.  She leaned against the window, her pink hair covering her face as she slept."M'am, your stop is here." I heard my voice alert the lady that it was time for her to go home. I didn't know why I knew where she got off, but I just pay attention a little to much.Her ears twitched a bit as she let out a broken sigh. "Thanks."





	1. Sleep

_March 21, 10:58 p.m., 2018_

She plopped herself onto the bus seat with a resounding huff.  She leaned against the window, her pink hair covering her face as she slept.

"M'am, your stop is here." I heard my voice alert the lady that it was time for her to go home. I didn't know why I knew where she got off, but I just pay attention a little to much.

Her ears twitched a bit as she let out a broken sigh. "Thanks." She picked up her heavy bag and walked by my seat to get off the bus, her meif'wa tail hanging low. "I'll see you tomorrow, mystery man."

"Till life has us meet again."

 

My stop wasn't for another half an hour, but I couldn't fall asleep for fear of missing my apartment complex.  I stared out the window until I got home. When I finally made it through the door of my condo, I kicked off my shoes and collapsed on the air mattress in the corner of the studio apartment. I glanced at the clock on the wall. 11:36pm.  Great.

_March 22, 5:00 a.m., 2018_

Five o' clock in the morning, I was out the door and sprinting towards the bus spot.  My hair flew all around me and I struggled to pull my hood over my face.  I threw my bag into my regular seat and basically died with relief of having had made it.  Monday buses always left at 5:01am sharp.  Five seconds late and you'd be waiting for another hour and I couldn't afford that, not with my job.  When the pink-haired girl got on the bus, I had already slapped myself a thousand times to try and wake up.  It wasn't working.  I huffed, pulled my hair out it's ponytail and ran my hands through. That just made me more sleepy and I groaned in frustration and exhaustion.  

"Sir?" I sat up, startled. "We get off at the same stop today. I can make sure you don't miss it.  Get some sleep; you look like you need it." The pink-haired meif'wa smiled softly as I stared at her in confusion.

"O-okay..." I pulled my jacket off and bunched it up as a cushion for my head.  I lay down on the row of empty bus seats and fell into a gentle sleep.

 

 

"Sir, sir, you have to get up now." A soft voice called out.  The bus had stopped and kneeling in front of me was the pink-haired girl with her cat ears slightly droopy as if she was dreading something.

"Oh. Thanks " She smiled softly and got up. I pulled on my now-wrinkled jacket and followed her out of the bus .

 

 

"Zane, you're doing it wrong!" My coworker, Gene, yelled. "You have to make sure all the dry ingredients mix in with the wet at a study paxe. Ten seconds between every exact cup! Jeez, I swear, if only you weren't friends with Aphmau..."

I rolled my eyes and kept feeding the dry ingredients into the mixer. I had to get this batch of cookies done for the event tomorrow and I couldn't focus with Gene existing right next to me. I finally got the last of the flour into the mixer and let it run for a bit on it's own. I pulled my phone from the pocket of my jacket which was hanging from my designated jacket and bag hook in the corner of the kitchen. I dug my earphones out of the other pocket and plugged them in. I opened Pandora and turned the music all the way up.  I made my way back to the mixer and shut it off. Almost in time with the music, I grabbed the clean baking sheets and began rolling the dough into little balls. I almost flipped the entire baking sheet-I was that startled-when someone tapped my shoulder. I yanked an earbud out and turned to see who wanted my attention. To my surprise, it was Ms. Pink Hair from my bus .

"O-oh! You are the man from my bus stop." She noted.

"Yeah, I am.  And even if we ride the bus together, the kitchen is for employees only, so if you could just go back to the public seating area, that's be great." I pushed my earbud back and continued working on the cookies. I rolled my eyes when I felt another tap on my shoulder. I pulled my earbud out and glared at her  "What."

"I need to talk to your manager." Her cat ears flattened back in frustration. "I work for the company that buys your goods for events." My glare dropped and I began picking off my gloves .

"Oh, yeah, Aph told me that you were coming today. Sorry." I paused my music ."Follow me." I led her down the hallway next to the kitchen and pointed her to the office where Aphmau could be seen on the phone and waving some paperwork around  "She's on the phone right now, but she'll talk to you shortly." I started walking back, but stopped when I heard her say something .

"What can I call you? I've been calling you mystery guy in my head all this time."

"Just keep calling me that. I'd rather you not know."

"Well then, call me KC."

"Right. Well, I have to get back to my job. I'll see you on the bus."

I continued rolling the dough into little balls and only looked up when I noticed KC leaving the bakery.  

 

A good six hours later, I was washing off the flour and sticky cheese dough from my hands and arms. Gene had left at closing, leaving Aph and I to clean up.  

"Did you know the girl that came by earlier?" Aphmau asked. 

"Sorta, we ride the bus together. We usually trade off on letting the other sleep while keeping watch for their stop. She's never gotten off at my stop, so I was a bit surprised." I answered .

"Ooo, does my ZuZh have a crush on the meif'wa?" She taunted. 

"No. How does letting her get a couple more hours of sleep at night count as having a crush, anyway?" 

"Hmm, I'm sure I could figure out a way."  I rolled my eyes and kept washing off the dough. Man, that stuff is sticky! "Anyway, once you get your hands washed, you can head off. The bus leaves soon, doesn't it?" 

"Uh, yeah, but the next bus is only thirty minutes behind."

"Nonsense. Aaron is coming in later to help, anyway." Aaron is Aph's boyfriend, but I don't know him all that well.

"Okay." I finally got all the gunk off my hands and reached for my jacket. I pulled it on and started for the door. "See you tomorrow, Aph."

"Bye, Zane!"


	2. A Phone Call

_March 23. 9:23 A.M., 2018_

I mindlessly kneaded the sticky dough.  I had been doing this since I got here at seven and I was getting sleepy. I spooned the cheesy dough onto the baking sheet and placed the tray into the oven.  I sat on the floor next to oven, relishing in the warmth the oven emitted.

"You lazy nugget, what are you doing on the floor?" Aphmau questioned.

"I'm tired and the oven is warm."

"Fair enough.  It is getting pretty chilly. Hey, is Gene here yet? He hasn't punched in yet."

"No, I have a feeling he won't be coming in today."

"Okay.  I'll ask Aaron if he can man the register." She plopped herself next to me and placed her head on my shoulder.

"Please do.  We all know how it ended last time I was at the counter." I laughed.

"We still have the burn mark from the fire in that one corner."

"Yep."

"Question, did Miss Ishida come by yet? I have her paperwork."

"Miss who?"

"That girl that came by yesterday? The meif'wa you have a crush on?"

"Oh, KC? No, she didn't come by and no, I don't have a crush on her, jeez."

"Such a shame. She's cute." Aphmau pulled herself up off the floor.

"Don't let Aaron hear you." I teased.

"Shuddup, fat nugget." She yelled from down the hallway.

"No." I got up myself.

I resumed my work, grabbing the cookies out of the incubator and began packaging them.  Gene and I were supposed to get them done by 10:30AM, but at this rate, I would never be able to package all 400 cookies in time. It was 10AM and I was at cookie package #23 when I heard the kitchen door open up. I automatically assumed it was Gene.

"Gene, you idiot. You were supposed to be here three hours ago. Aphmau isn't happy with you." I snarked.

"I can see you don't like this Gene person and I'm certainly glad I'm not them."  A small, high-pitched voice called out.  I turned around and I realized that it wasn't Gene, but KC, or Miss Ishida.

"Oh. Sorry. Aphmau is waiting for you in her office."

"Thank you, but I was wondering how the cookies were doing.  We need all 400 at the banquet hall by 11AM." She peered at the pile of packaged cookies verses un-packaged cookies and winced. "It doesn't look like they'll be done in time, though."

"Yeah, I'm working as fast as I can, but quality over quantity. My other co-worker, Gene, was supposed to help me package them, but he's not here and the other guy helping me out has to set up the counter, displays, and tables before opening, so we are stretched out pretty thin." I explained.

"I can help! I have nothing better to do. I'm just here to sign some forms and get the cookies. The rest of my team doesn't expect me back until 10:45 anyway."

"Um, okay.  Grab a plastic baggy, place two cookies inside them and twist the twine into a bow shape. Badda bing badda bam, you've got a packaged cookie." She gave a small giggle and I smiled softly.  "You seem much more relaxed than you did on the bus this morning." I noted.

"My boss was sick, so I didn't get fired today.  I was really close to being let go yesterday.  I just have to make it to Friday for my paycheck and then he can fire me all he wants."

“I see.”

We worked in silence for quite a while.  We were just about done when she started humming.

“Evermore.” I whispered.

“Huh?’

“The song you’re humming.  That’s Evermore from the Beauty and the Beast reboot.”

“I didn’t realize you watched Disney.”

“When you’re friends with Aphmau, you become Disney.” She giggled.  She giggles a lot. We finished up the last of the cookies and I started putting the bags into the bakery’s delivery boxes. “Welp, that’s all of them.”

“Awesome! Let me go sign these forms and I’ll take these cookies off your hands.”

“Nice.  Bye KC.”

“Bye-bye Mystery Man!’ She disappeared down the hall towards Aph’s office.  I smiled at the sound of silence.  It was peaceful at last.

“Where’s that idiot Gene?!” Aaron burst through the kitchen doors, seething.

I stand corrected.

“Gene isn’t here.  Please leave a message after the sigh.” I sighed.

“Very funny.  Seriously, where is he.”

“He’s not here.”

“Great.”

“What did he do now?”

“Gene never cleaned up that piece of cake that the little girl spilled yesterday and now there are cockroaches in the bakery.” Aaron explained, his fists clenching and unclenching.

“There are what in my bakery?!” Aphmau exclaimed.  She had just walked out of her office and was probably walking KC out of the restaurant.  I could spot KC from behind Aph.

“Nothing, hon, we’ve got it.” Aaron’s demeanor went from bubbling rage to a peace as he tried to calm her down. “Gene just messed up.  Zane and I have got it handled.” He walked over to her side and rubbed her shoulders.

“There are cockroaches in my bakery?” She whispered.

“Uh, Zane and I will get it handled.  Go take a quick nap in your office, babe, you’ll be okay.” Aphmau began crying and she clung to Aaron while burying her face into his sweatshirt.

“Aph, you trust me and Aaron, right?” I asked.

“Y-y-yes, of course.” She stammered.

“Then trust us to get this fixed. No one but us will have to know.”

“Okay.” Aaron shot me a grateful smile and led Aph back into her office.  I sighed heavily.

“KC, come with me. I’ll take you out the back exit.”

“O-okay.  Is everything alright?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, at least one good thing happened.”

“What is that?”

“I learned your name!”

“How?”

“The man in the red sweater!”

“Oh.” I showed her the back exit, shoved the boxes of cookies into her arms, and shut the door with a resounding huff.

Aaron came out of Aph’s office.  He and I shared a concerned look. “The bug spray is in the supply closet.  I would help, but I have to set up display.” I said.

“Okay.  Can you do you me a favor, Zane?”

“Sure.”

“Can you handle the bakery a few days on your own?”

“What?! Of course not! I’m struggling to get everything done today as is! I can’t-it’s not humanly possible for me to single handedly run the bakery for a few hours, let alone a few days.”

“It’s just Aph needs a break. She’s so strung up and stressed.” He put his head in his hands. “I can’t do anything to help her…she’s just hurting a lot right now.” My resolve to not run the bakery alone broke.  Aphmau is my best friend and she does need a break.

“Fine. I’ll try to get a couple people to help me. Maybe Gene will show up for once.”

“Thank you so much, Zane.” I nodded and walked back into the kitchen.  I sighed and leaned against the counter. _You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay_.

_I’m okay._

I went through the usual rushes of the day.  Aphmau left early so I took a couple phone calls on top of trying not to burn the banana bread.  Aaron ran from the manager’s office and the counter a lot.  I was so busy when we were closing, I never noticed my phone buzzing from my coat pocket.  When I finally got dismissed by a slightly frantic-to-get-home-Aaron, it was only then did I see all the notifications.  Someone had been calling me ever since noon.  That someone was none other than my older brother.

Garroth Ro’Meave, also known as Gar-Gar, the favorite.

And he called me.

Great.

_Ring, ring, ring ri-_

“This is Garroth! How can I help you?”

“It’s Zane.”

“Baby brother! It’s great to hear from you!”

“Yeah, yeah, why did you call.” I trudged my way to the bus stop. I’d have to ask KC to wake me up when she got to her stop if she wasn’t too tired.  I was just about to pass out; I was exhausted.

“I wanted to invite you to dinner tomorrow night!”

“Huh?”

“Dinner! I’m having a dinner with my roommate and a few friends from high school and college and I want you to come! Vylad might be there too.”

“No.”

“Zaaaaaane! Please?”

“Garroth, I have a job that gets me up at 4 in the morning and I don’t get back home till midnight.  I barely have enough energy to get on the bus at the end of the day.  Unless Aph and Aaron suddenly decide not to open tomorrow, then I can’t go.  I’d just end up sleeping on the plate.”

“Oh! That reminds me, I invited Aph and Aaron and Aph said that she would close up early tomorrow so you could freshen up before coming to my place.  She knows how far you live and so do I.”

“You really want me to come, don’t you.”

“Yes! I haven’t seen you so long, baby brother.”

“Fine, I’ll come.  Just don’t call me baby brother.”

“Yay! See you tomorrow, baby brother!”

“Curse you.”

_Beep._

Awesome.

Wow.

I just agreed to socialize. 

I’m an idiot.

I got on the bus and I was about to ask KC to wake me up in twenty minutes before realizing she wasn’t there.  I got worried.  I could count the amount of times that I haven’t seen her on the bus on one hand.  I had never been this scared that something might’ve happened, though.  I chalked it up to the fact that I had never known her before.  She was just someone who rode the bus with me, but now she was someone who showed up to my work and helped me with packaging cookies.

I fell asleep and missed my stop by three miles.  It was snowing really hard the entire three miles I had to walk home.


	3. People, People, and More People

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I'm still trying to figure out what to write for each chapter and I don't really have a plot set in stone, so chapters 1-5 are really just introductory ones. Anyone who reads this has @ArcticKittyCat to thank for this chapter because they not only motivated me to get this chapter out by today, but also made me realize that I really shouldn't be one of those authors who never update and then you forget the entire story by the time they do.  
> Have fun reading!
> 
> Warning: This chapter is not edited nor beta-d and contains gay characters and e-cigarettes

_March 24, 2018, 3:47 p.m._

True to Garroth’s word, Aphmau did close up early so that I could catch the four o’clock bus home. Since it took two hours by bus from the bakery to my apartment, I unlocked my door at 6:03 p.m. 

I sat cross-legged in front of my tiny closet.  I didn’t really have in fancy clothes. I mostly wore black band t-shirts and jeans.  I huffed and stood up, shoving a few shirts on their hangers aside to try and find something suitable.  After maybe ten minutes of slowly flicking through t-shirts, I finally found a decent grey and royal blue button down. I grabbed a pair of black jeans to go with them and meandered my way to bathroom for a shower.

_March 24, 2018, 7:26 p.m._

“Big brother!” A green blur sped towards me and enveloped me in a hug. My younger brother’s head was buried into my chest.

“Hey, Vylad,” I wrapped my arms around him. “It’s been a while.”

“You bet it has!” He lifted his head up and gave me a wide smile.  “Come on in, Garroth wants to see you.” He let me go and tugged on my arm impatiently.

“Ugh,” I groaned.

“Oh, shush, Garroth threw this entire thing just to see you. Don’t be ungrateful. Also, that shirt looks really nice on you.  It hugs your body very well.  Is it comfy? Because if it’s not, you’re wearing trash.” He kept rambling on about uncomfortable shirts.

“What do you mean Garroth wanted to see me?” I questioned. “Last time I talked to him face-to-face, father was yelling at me that the Ro’Meave family could deal without the screw-up that I am.” I added softly

“Oh, come on, Zay, he misses you! You haven’t visited him in forever.”

“And for good reason, Vylad.”  I snapped.

“Just come inside, please?” Vylad brought out his puppy gaze, his hazel, green tinted eyes almost glistening with hope.

“Fine.” I let him pull me into the house where my older brother pounced on me with a yell.

“Baby brother! I didn’t think you were actually gonna come!” Garroth’s firm hug grew even tighter.

“Garroth!” I choked out, “I can’t breathe!”

“Oh! Sorry, baby brother!” He giggled and let me go. “Come, I want you to meet some-“ His eyes went wide.

“Garroth? Garroth, is everyth-“ My older brother blew past me and straight out the door.  I peered outside the window and saw him jump into another man’s arms.

 The other man swung him around as Garroth laughed.  The other man smiled softly and set him down. He wiped something from my brother’s face-presumably tears- and held him close. I walked away from the window. Soon, my brother hopped back into the house holding onto the other man’s hand.  The other man was dressed in an army cameo uniform with brown hair shaved closely to his head. A large duffel bag was swung over his shoulder. “Garroth?”

“Baby brother, this is-“ he choked out a wet laugh, “This is my boyfriend, Laurance.” My older brother looked at me.  His blue eyes were matched almost perfectly to our father’s, save for one tiny feature.  His tidal blue pupils stared at me, searching my face for disapproval.  His shoulders sagged down after maybe a minute of me not saying anything. “Zane?” he whispered. 

I walked straight up to Laurance and stared him down. “You hurt my brother, I will cut off your arm, shove it up your butt, and skin you alive, do you hear me?” I deadpanned.  The taller man looked alarmed that a person who was shorter than him could be so threatening.

“Yes, sir.” He replied.

“I would say nice to meet you, but I don’t like people.” I held out my hand. “Zane Ro’Meave.”

“Laurance Zvahl.” Laurance grasped my hand and shook it firmly. I stepped back and faced Garroth.

“So, who else knows?”  I asked.

“Everyone here except you. We told Aph and Aaron months ago, but I wanted to tell you in person, so I asked them not to say anything.”

“Okay.”

“Well, baby brother, Laurance and I have to go tell everyone that he’s back, but go ahead and make yourself at home.” Garroth gave me another hug and kissed me on the head (A/N: This is a completely platonic and familial relationship, I swear). 

I stood there in the corner of the room for a while, observing everyone moving in and out of the area.  I saw Aph and Aaron talking to someone with blue hair.  Aphmau had her head thrown back in laughter while the blue haired man and Aaron hung their heads in shame.  There was Vylad sitting on the counter with a glass in his hand while talking to Garroth and Laurence. I was eavesdropping on a conversation between a light blue-haired girl and a red-head who were standing near me when someone tapped me on the shoulder.  I whipped my head around and glared at whoever had touched me.  It was a man, maybe two inches taller than me, who had almost white as snow hair with some grey undertones.  He was dressed in a aqua green sweatshirt and grey, ripped, skinny jeans.  He had a series of bracelets and bands on his left wrist and an e-cigarette in his right hand. 

“You know, I kind of hate people who use e-cigarettes.” I commented, offhandedly.

“And why is that?” the man responded.

“Whenever I smell the smoke that they emit, I always think that I’m going to treat myself to a cupcake from the store that must be around the corner.  Alas, it was just Chad and his cloud of lies.”

“Did you actually meet a man named Chad with cupcake flavored juice?”

“Yes, and it was the most obnoxious conversation I’ve ever had.  That’s saying something, since I grew up with two brothers.”  The man laughed wholeheartedly, his bracelets jingling as he moved around.

“The name’s Travis, Travis Valkrum.” He transferred his e-cig into his left hand and held his right hand out.

“Zane Ro’Meave.” I shook his hand and went back to observing the room. “Who’s all here?”  I questioned.

“Not completely sure, but there’s Aph and Aaron, the couple in the red and purple, Dante, the doofus in the blue hair and red leather jacket,  Garroth and Vylad, I assume you know them, Laurence, Garroth’s boyfriend, Katelyn, the babe in the light blue hair and khaki shorts, and Nicole, the redhead with the hoop earring. I think there’s one more person coming, my friend, Nana, but I’m not sure. She lives pretty far away.”  He answered.  I hummed in response. 

“Can I have a taste?” I inquired, motioning toward his e-cig without taking my eyes off the crowd.  Travis shrugged and handed it over.

“I thought you hated people who smoked e-cigs.” Travis commented after I had taken a puff of the nicotine infused smoke.

“I do.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alternate titles (per my chapter planning notes):  
> -a new challenger has entered the ring: zane's new bff, taco man  
> -zane the observer  
> -"brad and his cloud of lies"

**Author's Note:**

> I was so tired when I wrote this, so I made Zane and KC suffer from exhaustion as well huehue~


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